CALGARY – Mobile and at-home workers are just as productive as their office-based colleagues but happier, says a new study on flexible work.

The University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business study, conducted with Telus, found that mobile and home-based workers experienced better work-life balance and were less inclined to leave their jobs.

The year-long study surveyed more than 2,000 knowledge workers and their managers at Telus between February 2013 and February 2014.

It discovered that: 98 per cent of mobile workers and 99 per cent of at-home workers reported low to moderate impact of work duties on their home and family life compared to 71 per cent of resident workers; mobile and at-home workers demonstrated increased loyalty; 100 per cent of mobile and at-home workers were considered low-risk of leaving Telus; mobile and at-home workers were considered equally productive as their resident colleagues; and leaders showed no differences in their ratings of productivity or performance of mobile, at-home and resident workers.

Telus launched its flexible working program Work Styles in 2006. The company says its employee engagement scores have risen during that time from 53 per cent to 83 per cent – the highest score worldwide for a company of its size and workforce mix according to global HR organization Aon Hewitt. Engagement scores for mobile and at-home team members are even higher at 84 per cent and 85 per cent respectively.

Andrea Goertz, senior vice-president of strategic initiatives and chief communications and sustainability officer at Telus, said the company is currently at about 65 per cent of eligible employees working outside the traditional office environment.

“They have the flexibility to work when and where it’s most productive for them,” said Goertz.

“We very much customize it to each particular team so that we start to understand what will work for them at a team level and at an individual level as well.”

She said the Ivey study confirms the company belief that a flexible working program delivers substantial cultural, economic and environmental benefits to an organization.

“The study really re-enforced all of the benefits that we have expected and that we’ve been hearing anecdotally from our team members,” said Goertz.

“It’s a huge benefit. It’s a huge advantage for us.”

Alison Konrad, a professor of Organizational Behaviour at The Richard Ivey School of Business, who co-authored the study, said workers maintained their performance, exhibited increased loyalty, and experienced lower stress and less family/job conflict.

“But it also found that issues like professional isolation and perceptions of fairness can arise in the absence of strong leadership,” she said.

Robyn Bews, executive director of WORKshift Canada which began through Calgary Economic Development, said the study supports the organization’s assertions that companies that adapt to a more flexible work environment will realize a return on investment.

“WORKshift looks forward to supporting other Canadian organizations in our partner cities to embrace the new world of work with the much-anticipated standards and certification program to be launched in early 2015,” she said.

A BMO Commercial Banking Survey, released earlier this year, found that 49 per cent of Alberta employees said their company offers telecommuting to its staff. However, the percentage in Alberta has increased from a year ago when 34 per cent said that flexible work option was available to them.

The survey defined telecommuting as “a work arrangement where employees work from home or other locations, rather than coming into the office.”

When asked if telecommuting has a positive impact on employee morale, 74 per cent of Alberta workers said yes. The survey also found that 66 per cent of Albertans said telecommuting has a positive impact on productivity and 63 per cent of Albertans said it has a positive impact on the quality of work.

Since launching its flexible work program, Telus has reduced its real estate footprint by more than one million square feet. Travel costs have been cut by more than $14 million. The company has also seen a 22 per cent reduction in carbon emissions. Last year, Work Styles eliminated more than 19 million kilometres and 1.1 million hours of commuting by Telus employees. The company goal is that by 2015, 70 per cent of its employees in major centres will be working from home or on a mobile basis at least part-time. Currently, on any given day, about 5,200 employees work from outside the office.

“Implementing a flexible work program requires an organization to step into unfamiliar territory – there are behaviours to change, management styles to reshape and new cultural norms to establish,” said Goertz. “However, when embraced by leaders and supported by the right technology, these programs offer tremendous benefits for both team members and employers.”

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